my_girlfandomcom-20200214-history
My Girl (movie)
My Girl is a 1991 movie about 2 friends. PLOT In the summer of 1972 in Madison, Pennsylvania, Vada Sultenfuss is an 11-year-old tomboyish girl and a hypochondriac. Harry Sultenfuss, Vada's father, is an awkward widower who does not understand his daughter, so he constantly ignores her. His profession as a funeral director, for which the Sultenfuss' residence serves as a funeral parlor, led Vada to develop an obsession with death. Vada regularly tends to her invalid grandmother Gramoo, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease and whose wandering mind likewise affects Vada. Harry's brother Phil, who lives nearby, also stops by frequently to help out the family. Vada hangs out with her best friend Thomas J. Sennett, an unpopular boy her age who is allergic to "everything." However, other girls tease the two, thinking they are more than just friends. Thomas J. frequently accompanies Vada when she visits the doctor, who assures her that she is not sick and that she has no chicken bone stuck in her throat. Vada's summer begins well. She befriends Shelly DeVoto, the new makeup artist at her father's funeral parlor, who provides her with some much-needed guidance. She is also infatuated with her fifth grade school teacher, Mr. Bixler, and hears about an adult poetry writing class he is teaching during the summer. Vada steals some money from the cookie jar in Shelly's trailer to cover the cost of the class. When advised to write about what is in her soul, Vada fears that she killed her mother, who died two days after giving birth to her. Soon things start to fall apart. Harry and Shelly start dating, which begins to affect Vada's attitude towards Shelly. One night, Vada follows Harry and Shelly to a bingo game and brings Thomas J. along to disrupt it. On the Fourth of July, when Shelly's ex-husband Danny arrives, Vada hopes that he is there to take Shelly back, but to no avail. Later, Vada becomes shocked when Harry and Shelly announce their engagement at a carnival, at which she contemplates running away with Thomas J. Vada is starting to see changes within herself, as she is running around the house yelling that she is hemorrhaging. Shelly politely explains to Vada that her first period is a completely natural process. As Vada realizes this only occurs with girls, she doesn't want to see Thomas J., who happens to come by shortly afterward. A couple of days later though, Vada and Thomas J. are sitting under a tree by the river, where they share an innocent first kiss. One day in the woods, Vada and Thomas J. come across a beehive hanging from a tree, which Thomas J. decides to knock down. Vada loses her beloved mood ring in the process, so they start looking for it. But the search is cut short, as the bees start swarming from the broken hive, scaring Vada and Thomas J. away. Thomas J. later returns alone and finds the ring. But unfortunately for him, it's too late to escape this time, as he is chronically stung by the disrupted bees from the detached hive and dies, due to being allergic to bee stings. Thomas J. also loses his glasses in the process. Harry is then left to deliver the tragic news to Vada, which devastates her so much that she doesn't even leave her bedroom. As Vada attends Thomas J.'s funeral, her emotions become so strong that she runs away. Vada arrives at Mr. Bixler's house, wanting to stay with him, and discovers that he is about to get married to someone else. She then runs to hers and Thomas J.'s hangout spot near the tree to reflect on what has happened. When Vada returns home, everyone is relieved to see her okay, including Shelly, whom Vada starts to accept as her future stepmother. Vada's grief manages to mend the rift between her and her father. Harry explains to Vada that her mother's death wasn't her fault, and that mothers dying from childbirth isn't anyone's fault and things like that can happen without explanation. Toward the end of summer, Vada and her father see Mrs. Sennett, who still struggles with her son's death. She gives Vada her mood ring back which Thomas J. found and Vada gives Mrs. Sennett some comfort. On the last day of the writing class, Vada reads out a poem she wrote, summoning over the loss of her best friend.